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The Party That Lost Its Head

The Republican Collapse and Imperatives for RevivalGeorge Gilder and Bruce Chapman

In a candid, hard-hitting book that will provoke both anger and thoughtful consideration, two young Republicans have written the first thorough study of the real problems that face the party. A lively, inside account of the GOP’s warring factions and contesting personalities, The Party That Lost Its Head also advances a comprehensive program for its revival.

George F. Gilder and Bruce K. Chapman have a strong commitment to the Republican Party, bu they believe the party is best served in time of crisis, not by passive loyalty, which would permit future catastrophes, but by vigorous and constrictive criticism. The authors trace the gradual Republican breakdown to the illusion s and oversights of the Eisenhower years, and sho how “The Rampant Right,” although a minority, drove Goldwater to the nomination over the limp body of moderate Republicanism. They point out that the trends which led to the Goldwater nomination were merely interrupted, not arrested, by the 1964 election. They conclude with a severe but hopeful critique of the Republican paralysis of today.

As progressive Republicans, the authors believe that the party’s prime need is an ideological identity distinct from the Democrats’ and responsive to the other real needs of the country. They show that the nation’s apparent acceptance of an “obsolescent” Democratic ideology is largely the result of the Republican failure to present sound and relevant alternatives. Recognizing that the Republican Party is the Conservative party in the United States, they set down a program which is aimed largely at current Republican weaknesses — among youth, the intellectuals, and the urban voters — but which also is faithful to Republican traditions and in the nation’s interest. In addition Gilder and Chapman point the way, in ideology, organization, and political strategy, for a moderate Republican to gain the party’s Presidential nomination in 1968.

George Gilder

Senior Fellow and Co-Founder of Discovery Institute
George Gilder is Chairman of Gilder Publishing LLC, located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. A co-founder of Discovery Institute, Mr. Gilder is a Senior Fellow of the Center on Wealth & Poverty, and also directs Discovery's Technology and Democracy Project. His latest book, Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy (2018), Gilder waves goodbye to today's Internet.  In a rocketing journey into the very near-future, he argues that Silicon Valley, long dominated by a few giants, faces a “great unbundling,” which will disperse computer power and commerce and transform the economy and the Internet.

Bruce Chapman

Cofounder and Chairman of the Board of Discovery Institute
Bruce Chapman has had a long career in American politics and public policy at the city, state, national, and international levels. Elected to the Seattle City Council and as Washington State's Secretary of State, he also served in several leadership posts in the Reagan administration, including ambassador. In 1991, he founded the public policy think tank Discovery Institute, where he currently serves as Chairman of the Board and director of the Chapman Center on Citizen Leadership.